The present invention relates to floor treatment machines and particularly to scrubbers having swing squeegee assemblies.
In such swing squeegee scrubbers, the squeegees are mounted at the rear of the scrubber so as to swing from side to side. As one turns a corner with the machine, the friction between the squeegee and the floor causes the squeegee to track to the inside and thereby follow the path of water which has been laid down on the floor by brushes at the front of the machine.
Not only is it desirable to have a squeegee which swings from side to side, but also it is desirable to have a squeegee which will tilt or pivot about the longitudinal axis or path which the machine follows. Also, it is desirable to have facility for raising and lowering the squeegee between inoperative and operative positions. Prior artisans have had difficulty in combining all of these functions into a swing squeegee assembly which can still be raised and lowered by some type of remote control. Mechanisms proposed have either been quite complicated or have involved expensive components such as universal joints.
Also, the complicated assemblies required for swing squeegees interfere to some extent with the ability of the operator to tilt the machine on its rear wheels to gain access to the cleaning brushes. Such access is necessary to change brushes, for example. The squeegee assembly either interferes with tipping the machine rearwardly or prevents it altogether when the squeegee is in its operative position. Indeed, one could conceivably damage the squeegee assembly by attempting to tip it rearwardly with the squeegee in its down or operative position.
Yet another difficulty encountered with swing squeegee assemblies is effecting proper adjustment of the angle of the squeegee with respect to the floor. Typically, the entire assembly has to be adjusted in order to adjust this angle. This makes it extremely difficult if not impossible to adjust the angle during the life of the machine, which adjustment sometimes becomes necessary as a result of wear on the squeegee blade. Only one prior art proposal is known which even suggests providing for adjusting the angle of the squeegee with respect to the floor and this is a relatively complex arrangement in which a pivotally mounted squeegee has an upwardly projecting lever portion with a set screw projecting from either side of the lever for positioning it by adjusting the oppositely disposed set screws.